SECPLOT

SECPLOT

SECPLOT, SECID, VAL1, VAL2, VAL3
Plots the geometry of a beam, pipe, shell, or reinforcing section to scale.

PREP7: Cross Sections

SECID: The section ID number (as defined via the SECTYPE command).
VAL1, VAL2, VAL3: Values that control the information to be plotted. See the "Notes" section of this command description for more information. For clarity, the labels VAL1, VAL2, and VAL3 are renamed according to the section type.

Notes

The SECPLOT command is valid only for "Beams and Pipes", "Shells", and "Reinforcings".

SECPLOT cannot display the plot of an ASEC (arbitrary section) subtype.

Beams and Pipes

Plots the geometry of the beam or pipe section to scale depicting the centroid, shear center, and origin. SECPLOT also lists various section properties such as Iyy, Iyz, and Izz.

Data to be supplied in the value fields:

MESHKEY

Beam or pipe section mesh display options:

0 --: Display section outline only.
1 --: Display beam or pipe section mesh.
2 --: Display the section mesh with node numbers.
3 --: Display the section mesh with cell numbers.
4 --: Display the section mesh with material numbers and colors.
5 --: Display the section mesh with material colors only.
6 --: Display the section mesh with the RST node numbers. RST nodes are section corner nodes where results are available. This is applicable when the averaged results format (KEYOPT(15) = 0 for BEAM188, BEAM189, PIPE288, and PIPE289) is used.
7 --: Display the section mesh with the RST cell numbers. RST cells are section cells where results are available. This is applicable when the non-averaged results format (KEYOPT(15) = 1 for BEAM188, BEAM189, PIPE288, and PIPE289) is used.

Options 2 through 6 do not depict centroid and shear center, nor do they list section properties.

Following is a sample section plot for the beam section type:

Shells

Plots the layer arrangement of the shell section showing the layer material and orientation.

Data to be supplied in the value fields:

LAYR1, LAYR2: The range of layer numbers to be displayed. If LAYR1 is greater than LAYR2, a reversed order display is produced. Up to 20 layers may be displayed at the same time. LAYR1 defaults to 1. LAYR2 defaults to LAYR1 if LAYR1 is input or to the number of layers (or to 19+LAYR1, if smaller) if LAYR1 is not input.

Following is a sample section plot for the shell section type:

Reinforcings

Plots the arrangement of a reinforcing section within the base element.

Data to be supplied in the value fields:

REINF1, REINF2, OVERLAY

REINF1, REINF2 -- The numerical range of reinforcings to be displayed. The default REINF1 value is 1. The default REINF2 value is the number of reinforcings.

OVERLAY -- The section ID of the base element within which to display the reinforcing section. The section appears translucent and the reinforcing section is solid. Valid values are:

SOLID -- Display a translucent solid block over the reinforcing section
SECID -- A number corresponding to a specific section ID of the base element.

If no OVERLAY value is specified, ANSYS displays the reinforcing section only.

Following is a sample section plot for the reinforcing section type:

For more information about reinforcing, see the documentation for the SECDATA command, and the REINF264 and REINF265 elements.

Menu Paths

Main Menu>Preprocessor>Sections>Beam>Plot Section

Main Menu>Preprocessor>Sections>Pipe>Plot Section

Main Menu>Preprocessor>Sections>Reinforcing>Plot Section

Main Menu>Preprocessor>Sections>Shell>Lay-up>Plot Section